Linda Brenneman-Snider remembers her husband Don Snider

It was in the hallway of the Ortona Armory in the winter of 1991 that Don and I first met. He was coming in as the new Production Manager of the festival and I was preparing for another year as the Manager of Food Services. In the two previous years before Don arrived, the festival had gone through some major site and volunteer changes. More of everything…upgrading, renovating, policy, improvements…he had his hands full pulling the site together; not just physically but also, as a community.

What I witnessed was a man who, through his unique blend of fairness and evenhandedness, confidence, skill, and poise, establish a site crew and work environment that has a standard of excellence, and equality that is second to none. Whether you agreed or not with his style and delivery (“No” was always his first response), you could never fault him for his complete loyalty, dedication, enthusiasm and just plain passion for his work and the people he dealt with. That was the man I fell in love with.

The relationship that developed working with Don those first few years he was Production Manager had its roots in our shared values of respect, community, enthusiasm, and a deep sense of commitment. Over the next several years we worked together on a number of events such as the Arctic Winter Games, First Night Festival, Street Performers Festival, and Labatt’s Blues Festival to name a few. Over a glass of wine and a plate of pasta at our favourite café, we discussed the shows, our work, kids, pets, and the possibility of a future together. When I felt our relationship was getting “serious”, I thought I should tell him I didn’t shave my legs; he responded by stating that he didn’t either. We agreed we should surely get along. We shared a great sense of (absurdist) humour developed and nurtured by the many curious, crazy, frustrating, and fun situations we would find ourselves in whether at work or at play.

On May 18th, 1996, Don & I married in the yard of our duplex in Riverdale. When asked how he got the last flight of the Concord to fly over our wedding, he retorted, “That was easy. Getting them to pull the banner saying “Congratulations, Don & Linda” behind, was a bit more difficult.”

Our lives together were on many levels a whirlwind of activity. Whether public or private, we rarely sat still – unless it was at the lake! We were both keen on fishing – very competitive! Who caught the first one, the biggest one, and the most fish? We cooked entirely on a fire, making everything from scratch. Another challenge – how many days can you keep a fire going without re-lighting? He managed 17 days. We thought of ourselves as travelers as opposed to tourists. Off road was our specialty. Whether sharing a glass of Grand Marnier with people from around the world by a fire pit on top of chilly Jabel Shams in Oman, or Don completing 21 dives in the Caribbean off Punta Gorda, Belize (this year), living on an island the size of a postage stamp, we reveled in life.

He delighted in our backyard, garden and flowers. He planted pumpkins and cared for them lovingly as they took over the entire garden. Our grandchildren would follow him around as he explained how composts worked or what each flower’s name was. He treated young and old with respect, and listened to their stories with interest. Christmas was always a special time to get together with all the children and grandchildren. Our Christmas Eves were full of warmth and laughter and good food. Don loved my cooking.

Our family included a big community. There were his mountain biking buddies, his friend he skied with, the theatre friends he’s connected with for 40 years, his site crews, the diving group in Qatar and in Belize, our own blended families, and anyone he has ever told a story, everyone felt connected by his sincerity and abiding respect.

We were proud of each other’s successes and shared the conviction that we would always be there for each other. No matter what the problem, we could sit by the fireplace or out on the deck and discuss the pros and cons of a situation and come up with a plan of action. I will always cherish those moments. On many levels we balanced each other out. He was the gregarious, outgoing, social creature. I was the nurturer - tending feelings and tempers and the growlies.

I was always impressed by Don’s public appearances. He loved the media. What is interesting about this is that he had little to say about himself but was thrilled to promote whatever event or project he was working on, and he made sure that the public was aware of everything they needed to know about it. He was a terrific ambassador. Public or private, Don was generous, kind, and fair. He was loyal to all those he loved, and his commitment to his work was as staunch as was his commitment to his family and his community. He was ready and willing to share his knowledge, skills, and stories with anyone who needed advice or expressed an interest.

Don was diagnosed with lung cancer in the spring of 2010. He had been feeling poorly for a year before that but put it off as “a bug”. He maintained a certain amount of privacy about his life so we kept this part of his life quiet. We continued to live our lives aware that the diseases were present yet they were not going to diminish our hope for the future. Don lived to the very end believing in the promise of a new day, whatever shape that took. Our last trip was to Maui in June, 2012 where we went on an “Extreme Helicopter Ride”, 4 - 6 person helicopter with no doors, dropping over 3000 ft cliffs and flying into gorges to have a look at 1000 ft waterfalls – what a blast! So was he. I’ll miss him madly!